The present invention relates broadly to a device for stabilizing a blood vessel to facilitate puncture of the vessel in order to extract blood therefrom or inject medication therein. In particular, the present invention is an arterial puncture stabilization device that facilitates arterial blood extraction.
The taking of arterial blood samples is recognized as an important feature in diagnosing and treating patients suffering from lung or heart diseases. In treating these patients, it is important to know that the oxygen content of the blood. Oxygen content is determined through blood gas analysis of arterial blood as opposed to venous blood. In extracting arterial blood samples, however, problems arise that are generally not present with respect to venous blood sampling. For example, prominent veins are located just beneath the skin and are readily visible. The physician or technician extracting venous blood, therefore, typically has no problem in locating the vein and puncturing the vein with a suitable extraction needle. On the other hand, arteries are typically located deeper in the body than veins making detection of the artery and insertion of a needle therein extremely difficult. Additionally, arterial blood is under significant pressure which has a tendency to cause the artery to wiggle or move within its tissue surroundings. Thus, it is difficult for the physician or technician to properly insert the extraction needle into the artery.
It is not uncommon for the physician or technician to miss the artery upon the first insertion of the needle. The needle may strike a vein adjacent the artery and the blood extracted therefrom would give an erroneous measure of arterial blood oxygen content. The needle may also strike a side wall of the artery tearing the vessel wall creating an aneurysm. If it is apparent to the physician or technician that the artery has not been properly punctured, the needle must be extracted and reinserted. The patient experiences considerably more pain due to multiple punctures and the risk of contamination with the second and subsequent punctures is significantly increased.
Additionally, once the arterial blood has been extracted, pressure must be maintained on the puncture wound for a considerably longer period of time than with venous extraction to allow the wound and artery to occlude. It is desirable to maintain even pressure on the arterial puncture wound for five minutes or more. Presently, the physician or technician must manually apply the desired pressure with the cotton or gauze pad. By its very nature, manual pressure application in this manner often results in uneven pressure and in addition consumes significant physician or technician time that could be occupied with more constructive tasks.
The present invention, therefore, eliminates the disadvantages of the prior arterial extraction methods in that it is a device for stabilizing the artery through the application of presssure on either side of the artery. The device is secured to the patient's wrist from which arterial blood is typically sampled by a stretched rubber or elastic band encircling the wrist such that pressure is applied to the skin above an artery location. The pressure applied holds the artery against the surrounding tissue essentially preventing movement of the artery. The actual puncture location is determined by manually detecting the pulse in the artery, and the puncture is made proximate the stabilization device. The probability of properly puncturing the artery upon the first insertion of the needle is substantially increased utilizing the present invention. Further, the present invention includes an apparatus which is placed over the puncture wound following extraction of the arterial blood sample and retained until the wound is occluded properly by the compressive force of the elastic band.